What Was Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' Rally Really About?

Conservative US radio and television commentator Glenn Beck speaks at a rally dubbed 'Restoring Honor,' to show support of the US military,.
(Nicholas Kamm/Getty)

At Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington, D.C., this weekend, Beck, Sarah Palin and niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Alveda King, invoked King's speech and memory, while calling on God and American values to lead the way in their movement. While they were gathering in the National Mall on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network was holding a separate rally in the city to commemorate King's "I have a dream speech", held on the same day, 47 years ago. The NAN and the NAACP say Beck and like-minded conservative groups have co-opted the civil rights movement and King's memory.

What would Martin Luther King have thought about Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally this weekend? And is this the beginning of a new religious movement?

“
My uncle had a dream that black people and white people would get along and that Protestants and Catholics and Gentiles and Jews would join together…and so when I heard about [Beck’s speech], I said, ‘Wow, this is just good.’”

The Takeaway speaks to Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of “Priests of Life” about her speech and the new religious tenor in the Tea Party movement. We also hear from Karen West, a Glenn Beck fan who attended the rally this weekend.

And we're asking our listeners: What message did YOU think is the takeaway from the "Restoring Honor" rally?

Guests:

Produced by:

Tags:

Comments [30]

NY Student
from NYC

Eating the meat and spitting out the fat and bones I took three things away from the rally: a challenge to engage history, seek piety, and live sacrificially. Those are causes I think Dr. King would be proud of, though they’re a little too ambiguous for the start of a “ new religious movement.”

When the media reports on demagogs like glenn beck and any one else in the public sphere they need to tag them by who is paying there way. Mr beck is paid by fox news who is owned by who? There were many funders of Hitler from America. Hitler got a lot of traction from "restoring" Germanys honer. Beck and fox news do not have the smarts and passion of Hitler.

Glenn Beck's rally with its constant references to God struck me as an attempt to galvanize support for transforming our representative democracy into a theocracy, similar to Iran. Separation of church and state is a founding principle of our country. Beck's goal seems to match the definition of the longest word I learned as a kid: antidisestablishmentarianism.

Another more subtle motive for the rally may be what I consider much of Fox News programming to be: distraction of the nation's attention from the truly important issues of the day, such as the reasons, effects, and ending of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, corporate infiltration of American political process, the power of lobbyists upon Congress, the deficit, unemployment, education, to name a very few.

It is not a far stretch to interpret Beck's schtick of fomenting an emotional unrest in his audience as a tool for manipulation to instill belief for the distortions he and other Fox message transmitters repeat.

DC Tea Party Rally Sparks Racial ControversyThe D.C. 'Restoring Honor' rally held today by Fox News pundit Glenn Beck has stirred up controversy with its timing. The biggest cause of contention: holding it at the Lincoln Memorial on the Anniversary of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. http://www.newslook.com/videos/245499-dc-tea-party-rally-sparks-racial-controversy?autoplay=true

I have actually tried to watch his show. He blatantly tries to rewrite well known and well documented American history on his blackboard while denouncing any liberal in history as a bad guy pinko commie and talks like communism is at our back door and the cold war never ended. He then at some point starts crying crocodile tears to try and look genuine. I just don’t buy it. But I will say this guy is frightening, very frightening…

Glen Beck is nothing more than a tricksters or social engineer who deliberately deceives and manipulates people, exploiting human weaknesses to obtain personal benefit to feed his self-worth. Anyone who believes what Glen Beck has to say is a weak minded individual who can’t think for themselves. Too many people look for those to tell us what to think rather than to do the homework and make an educated decision.

All Glen does in contradict himself on a daily bases…

Here is his tactic

1st he strikes fear in people, get everyone all riled up. 2nd he comes out acting like he has the answers to fix the problems3rd He holds a rally playing the part of a messenger from god on how to motivate people4th collects a huge sum of money and laughs at all the people who fell for it.

Historically, when "Christianity" tries to establish itself as the State Religion, rather than just teaching the gospel, as Jesus commanded, we end up with The Inquisition, mass public burnings of "heretics" and a civil war between muslims and "Christian" factions fighting each other in the streets, as in Beirut, Lebanon in the 1980's.

I will just add that propaganda has caused many problems in the past and specially political ones. Therefore, I stand for what "I" believe and could care less about what this men is doing. If we listen to his opinions, we will be doing what to others have done in the past, and perhaps get to a point when WE ACTUALLY BELIEVE IT!! PLEASE! We are smarter than Hitler!

The philosopher Buffoon and the many lemmings...1. A member of a crowd with no originality or voice of his own. One who speaks or repeats only what he has been told.2. A small, short-tailed rodent which lives in the tundra. It is said that large groups of these animals come together every so often to jump off of a cliff. On the contrary, they fall off quite by accident. It is also said that Disney filmed them doing this by moving them to unfamiliar territory.

The D.C. 'Restoring Honor' rally held today by Fox News pundit Glenn Beck has stirred up controversy with its timing. The biggest cause of contention: holding it at the Lincoln Memorial on the Anniversary of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. http://www.newslook.com/videos/245499-dc-tea-party-rally-sparks-racial-controversy?autoplay=true

It's sad that the majority of these comments and views are based on perceptions and opinions of others, as it's obvious that most here have never taken the time to personally listen to, watch, or read any direct source opinions that differ from their own, but instead rely on third party interpretations. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. Nothing good can come from ignorance.

More people show up at a high school football game than did at Al's rally. Maybe he can re-group in A Baptist church and hold a political re-rally (political meetings in churches is acceptable for Kerry, and other Dems; but not for Pubs). Today lefties are lamenting "American values" and "Christianity" --- questioning and bad-mouthing such -- while failing to ever question the motives of Muslim's and non-Christians.

Truth is Glenn Beck is trying to incite violence and unrest. He has used many tactic, religion is the hot button issue of the day. That said you cannot change Dr. Martin Luther King's dream, nor the speech and that is what the Rev. Al Sharpton and those in attendance were there to do, commemorate the I have a dream speech on it's anniversary. Dr. King stood for and died for all races to have their civil rights respected, the speech was one of peace and togetherness not separation and division.

The Glenn Beck event this weekend was nothing more than another major push to insert religion -- more specifically, Christianity -- into the US political system. I was a practicing Christian for over 30 years. I have been Buddhist for 5 years. I believe that religion and spirituality have a part in life. But, I am deeply offended by many Christians and their assertion of Christian 'privilege'.

I must disagree with Dr. Alveda King. Neither the founding of the nation nor the movement for civil rights are about belief in supernatural power. Both are about belief in humanity, in the right and duty of we the people to make, and remake, governments and other institutions to better serve humanity.The founders of the country were not of a united religious opinion (in fact many States were reluctant to adopt a Constitution regarded as so unprecedentedly secular), and the civil rights movement brought together people of all faiths and none (though particularly orthodox and conservative sects were reliable indicators of who was against it.)

The two 2010 rallies, led by demagogues, were a travesty of the original rally led a great man who was the opposite of a demagogue. King always put his life on the line, and paid with it for his moral vision and courage.

The Take Away's hosts continually probe the validity of Beck's message, motivation, and integrity. Good. They should.

I happen not to be a fan of public revivals, although I support the right of Beck to do it.

But where is the balance in the Take Away's reportage? Why not also probe Sharpton's critique and integrity instead of using his criticisms as a platform for the piece? Is Sharpton, with his conviction for slander, his history at Freddy's in Harlem, and the like, a paragon of civil rights virtue and harmony? Could one probing question have been be asked of him?

Once again, The Take Away only attacks issues and people on the right of the political spectrum. That's fine. But not for a program that relies to an extent on tax dollars that come from all persuasions.

It is ironic to the brainwashed left that Conservatives are the only ones now championing MLK's dream of a color-blind society. Every conservative I know believes that a person should be judged by the content of their character, and not the color of their skin. I've never met a conservative racist. Its all lies. It is the Left and the Statists that are obsessed with race, and gender and class. The right is obsessed with right and wrong, and with individuals having more power than the State. We want *less* power by definition. The left, by definition, wants more. They are the ones to be feared.

i have a dream! that one day my daughter will benefit by your son's lack of documentation to pay him nothing, all the while blaming him for coming here. From the land where uninsured die, to the snowy slopes of white pride. I have a dream that my son will bob his head to rap created by the pain from when my son put your son in jail for what my son smokes at camp. From the mountain tops of alaska which is across the street from Russia, to the valleys of how low I can go for ratings. Buy one gold coin get one free, at last. Buy one gold coin and get one free, at last! 1800buygold.﻿